In a hyperbaric chamber you breathe close to 100% oxygen at about twice the pressure of sea level, so far more oxygen dissolves in your blood and reaches healing tissue. Hospitals use it for wounds that will not heal and for skin grafts in trouble. Our fuller packages include one or two optional sessions after your transplant, for comfort while you heal; the evidence for hair transplants is limited.
Patients in the Signature and Prestige packages who want extra support for the first days of healing.
Anyone in good general health whom the hyperbaric centre’s doctor clears for the chamber after checking ears, lungs and medicines.
Who should wait, or choose something else
Anyone with an untreated collapsed lung (pneumothorax): the one absolute reason not to go in.
A cold, sinus infection, fever or recent ear surgery on the day: the session is postponed.
Lung disease with trapped air (such as COPD or uncontrolled asthma), uncontrolled epilepsy, pregnancy, some older pacemakers, and past treatment with certain chemotherapy drugs (bleomycin, doxorubicin, cisplatin): the hyperbaric physician decides.
Severe claustrophobia: the chamber is a walk-in room shared with other patients and an attendant, which most people find easier than a tube, but tell the team first.
At sea level your blood carries oxygen almost entirely inside red blood cells. In a hyperbaric chamber you breathe close to 100% oxygen at about twice the pressure of sea level, and the plasma itself carries many times more dissolved oxygen. That oxygen reaches tissue with a poor blood supply. This is why hospitals use the chambers for wounds that will not heal, for skin grafts and flaps in trouble, for late damage from radiotherapy, for some severe infections, and for carbon-monoxide poisoning and diving accidents.
Two kinds of chamber exist. In a monoplace chamber one person lies in a clear acrylic tube filled with oxygen. In a multiplace chamber several people sit together in a steel room pressurised with air and breathe oxygen through a hood or mask, with an attendant inside. The inflatable “soft” chambers sold to wellness studios run at low pressure, often on air, and are not hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Why we offer it after a hair transplant
A transplanted graft is a tiny piece of living tissue that depends on your scalp for oxygen in its first days. A good oxygen supply is one of the conditions for a wound to heal well, and extra oxygen is an accepted hospital treatment where healing is at risk. That is the reason the Signature and Prestige packages include one or two sessions in the days after surgery, next to the first wash, the check-ups and PRP.
It is support for healing and comfort in the first week. It is not a way to get a better result, as the next section explains.
What the evidence shows
We say plainly what is known and what is not.
In one line. Accepted in hospitals for hard-to-heal wounds; after FUE, one small trial found more comfort in the first weeks but the same graft survival.
Hard-to-heal wounds and compromised grafts. Accepted indications in the hospital guidelines of Europe, the United States and Türkiye. The strongest trial evidence is for diabetic foot ulcers (more of them heal in the short term) and for late radiotherapy damage. For skin grafts and flaps the mechanism is well understood, but the human trials are small.
Hair transplant patients. One small randomised trial (34 men) gave seven daily sessions after FUE. The treated group had less itching and folliculitis, less early shedding and was happier in the first weeks; after nine months, graft survival was the same in both groups. A five-patient series reported faster crust clearance, without a control group. That is all the evidence there is, and nothing in it shows that more hair grows.
General health, “anti-ageing”, sport recovery. The widely quoted results come from one centre, from small studies without sham chambers and with commercial interests. For athletes, a meta-analysis found no benefit. Regulators and Europe’s hyperbaric societies have warned against such claims, and so do we.
The hyperbaric centre, not the hair clinic. In Türkiye the rules require a physician qualified in hyperbaric medicine to examine you before treatment and to be in the centre during every session, and the centre can refuse or postpone a session on medical grounds. Your coordinator books the sessions into your stay and sends you the centre’s instructions.
The centre’s doctor decides. The hyperbaric physician decides who is suitable, and can postpone a session.
The chamber at our partner centre
Our partner centre uses a multiplace chamber: a walk-in steel cylinder made in Germany, where several people sit together in comfortable seats instead of lying alone in a tube.
The chamber is filled with ordinary compressed air. You breathe 100% oxygen through a face mask.
A second compartment, the entry lock, lets a doctor or nurse come in or go out while the session carries on.
A trained attendant sits inside with the patients, and a doctor trained in hyperbaric medicine supervises every session.
A computer measures the oxygen level inside the chamber all the time, and a sprinkler system and extinguishers are built in.
Staff watch you on video and talk to you over an intercom. You can listen to music on headphones or read.
Heart (ECG) and skin-oxygen monitoring are there for patients who need them.
A visit takes about two and a half hours: around 15 minutes to reach the treatment pressure, the time on oxygen, then about 20 minutes to come back to normal pressure. The hyperbaric physician sets the pressure and the time for you.
Side effects, and who should not go in
Expected and usually mild: pressure in the ears, sometimes a sore middle ear for a day or two (most often in the first session or with a cold), sinus or tooth pressure, and tiredness afterwards. Daily sessions over several weeks can shift your eyesight towards short-sightedness for a while, which is not expected after one or two sessions. Rare: a seizure from oxygen toxicity (about one in several thousand sessions, more likely at higher pressures; it stops on its own without lasting harm), confinement anxiety, and lung injury from trapped air. Fire is the catastrophic risk in any oxygen-rich space, which is why the rules about what you may bring in are strict and only a licensed centre may run a chamber.
You should not go in with an untreated collapsed lung. A cold, sinus infection, fever or recent ear surgery means waiting. Lung disease with trapped air, uncontrolled epilepsy, pregnancy, some older pacemakers and certain chemotherapy drugs need the hyperbaric physician’s decision. Tell them about every medicine you take.
What it costs
Signature includes one session and Prestige two. Extra sessions, or sessions added to the Express or Essential package, are a question for your coordinator on WhatsApp. You can see what every package includes on our prices page.
A doctor at the hyperbaric centre reviews your history, ears, lungs and medicines, and sets the pressure, the duration and the number of sessions. If you are not suitable, you simply skip it.
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Before you go in
You change into cotton clothing and leave phones, watches, lighters, make-up, hair products, sprays and creams outside: in an oxygen-rich chamber they are a fire risk. Tell the team about any spray or ointment you use after surgery.
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The session
The pressure rises slowly. Your ears feel it like a landing aircraft, and you clear them by swallowing or yawning. Then you rest, read or sleep while breathing oxygen, usually for one to two hours; the physician sets the time. Staff watch you through the window and talk to you over an intercom.
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Afterwards
You can go back to your hotel straight away. Some people feel tired for a few hours. Your coordinator fits the sessions into your stay, around your first wash and check-ups.
Questions
Questions aboutHyperbaric oxygen therapy
Does hyperbaric oxygen make my grafts grow better?
There is no good evidence that it does. One small randomised trial in hair transplant patients found less itching, folliculitis and early shedding in the first weeks, but the same graft survival at nine months in both groups. We include it to support healing and comfort in the first days, not as a way to get a better result.
Is it safe?
In a licensed centre with a hyperbaric physician, serious problems are rare. The usual effects are ear pressure, sometimes mild middle-ear discomfort, and tiredness. Daily sessions over several weeks can cause temporary short-sightedness, which is not expected after one or two sessions. The centre screens you first and can refuse a session on medical grounds.
Can I skip it?
Yes. It is optional and never changes your surgical plan. If the hyperbaric physician finds you unsuitable, you skip it, and your coordinator explains on WhatsApp what that means for your package.
What about the anti-ageing and wellness claims I have read about?
The evidence for them is thin: small studies from one centre, without sham chambers and with commercial interests, and no independent confirmation. The US and Canadian regulators and Europe’s hyperbaric societies have warned against unproven claims. We make none.
Is this the same as the soft inflatable chambers in wellness studios?
No. Soft chambers work at low pressure, often on air, and give no more oxygen than a mask at normal pressure. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy means a hard chamber, close to 100% oxygen, about twice sea-level pressure, and a physician in charge.
RecoveryHair transplant recovery week by week: what to expectRecovery after a hair transplant from day 1 to month 18: swelling, crusts, first washes, shedding and growth, and when people return to work, gym and sun.
Hyperbaric oxygen comes withSignature and Prestige
1 session in Signature, 2 sessions in Prestige, always optional, and the hyperbaric physician decides whether it suits you. Send four photos for your plan and full price in writing, or ask us on WhatsApp about adding a session.
